Commissioners reporting on the events leading to September 11 produced a 575-page bestseller.

MAJOR CRITICISMS
- The attacks should not have come as a surprise. Islamist extremists had given plenty of warning that they meant to kill Americans in large numbers.
- Terrorism was not the overriding national security concern for the US Government under either the Clinton or pre-9/11 Bush administrations.
- Since the plotters were flexible and resourceful, we cannot know whether any single step or series of steps would have defeated them.
What we can say with confidence is that none of the measures adopted by the US government from 1998 to 2001 disturbed or even delayed the progress of the al-Qaeda plot. Across the government, there were failures of imagination, policy, capabilities, and management.
- The US government was not able to capitalise onmistakes made by the terrorists.
- Not linking the arrest of Zacarias Moussaoui,described as interested in flight training for thepurpose of using an aeroplane in a terrorist act,to the indications of an attack.
- Not hardening aircraft cockpit doors or taking other measures to prepare for suicide hijackings.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
- Attack terrorists and their organisations.
- Prevent the continued growth of Islamist terrorism.
- Protect against and prepare for terrorist attacks.
- The US Government should identify actual or potential terrorist sanctuaries and ask other countries for help.
- Strengthen long-term US andinternational commitments to the future of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- Build a better relationship beyond oil with Saudi Arabia.
- Create a national counter-terrorism centre against Islamist terrorists.

WHAT THE COMMISSION SAID ABOUT IRAQ
- Found no evidence of "operational" ties between Baghdad and al-Qaeda but did not rule out other forms of co-operation.

ON IRAN
- Intelligence indicates the persistence of contacts between Iranian security officials and senior al-Qaeda figures.
- Evidence that Iran facilitated the transitof al-Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers.
- Found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack.